🪅 Heap Heap Hurray Ed. #53

Good morning! Dive into your Thursday with enthusiasm.

#WallpaperWows - Apple's at it again! iOS 18’s got this fancy new wallpaper that shifts colors! Plus, you can tint those app icons too. But it’s all hush-hush in the developer beta for now. Wait till fall for the full glam!

#PhishyBusiness - Microsoft apparently got hacked in Russia… And Microsoft’s warning about Russian hackers apparently looked like spam itself! They’re emailing from shady domains, confusing everyone. Even ex-employees and cybersecurity pros are shaking their heads.

#NoCodeNecessity - Amazon wants to get in on the GenAI game. Their new App Studio service claims it can whip up enterprise apps just from your description—no developers needed. Imagine describing your dream app and voilà, it’s done!

#GoogleWantsToHaveAllTheFun - Chrome is playing favorites! A user discovered that only Google sites get to see your CPU, GPU, and memory usage, leaving others like Zoom, it’s Google Meet competitor in the dust. It’s like the teacher’s pet getting extra candy. Is this even legal?

WhatsApp Enhances Group Chat Transparency and Safety
WhatsApp introduces new safety measures for group chats, including context cards showing who added you, group creator details, and group descriptions. These updates aim to prevent spam and improve user safety. The features will roll out to all users in the coming weeks.

Investigation Into Alleged Forced Terminations by Paytm's Parent Company
Paytm's parent company, One97 Communications, is being investigated by the Regional Labour Commissioner of Bengaluru over allegations of forced terminations. Apparently, employees were forced to resign without written communication, and current and former employees met with the Labour Ministry yesterday to address these claims.

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit over GitHub Copilot AI Coding Assistant
GitHub, its owner Microsoft and OpenAI are free to train their AI coding assistant, Copilot, on public GitHub code repositories despite a class-action lawsuit claiming it violates the rights of open-source creators. A US District Court judge dismissed the lawsuit, citing that the plaintiffs failed to establish their claims.

Microsoft Drops Seat on OpenAI's Board
Microsoft has dropped its seat as an observer on the board of OpenAI, less than eight months after securing the non-voting seat. Apple was reportedly planning to join OpenAI’s nonprofit board, but now the Financial Times reports that Apple will no longer join the board.

Dark Web Reports Will Now Be Available To All Google Accounts
Starting late July 2024, Google will integrate its "Dark Web Reports" feature into all Google Accounts, no longer requiring a Google One membership. This move, part of the "Results about you" section, helps users monitor and protect their personal data against breaches.

Avatars | Avatars is a collection of diverse free avatar images from across the web, designed to add personality to your projects. With a vast selection of vibrant illustrations, you can enhance your projects in seconds.

Tegon | Tegon is an open-source, AI-first alternative to Jira, Linear

Pyright | Static Type Checker for Python, by Microsoft

What Are The Most Common Lies Told By Web Developers?
A reddit thread about what web developers commonly say that is a lie (but get away with). Most of the responses sound to generic to software programmers and not web developers in particular but a few of them do stand out. Brutal but honest take.

How A Dynamically Generating BarCode was Reverse Engineered
The author documents how they reverse engineered a mobile application for a ticket booking company that would generate a Bar Code every 15 seconds. A good read.

Devrel's Humbling: Is Devrel Job Obsolete?
The demand for developer relations (Devrel) seems to have cooled, with evidence pointing to intense hiring, layoffs, and decreased attention. Expert believes the question "Is Devrel dead?" is misguided, citing timeless needs for Devrel, but rather calls it a "Zero Interest Rate Phenomenon" due to over-inflated expectations in the past.